Terms of Business

By purchasing/investing in a service or product from sm web designs you agree to the following terms and conditions: sm web designs reserves the right to change any of the terms and conditions at any time and without prior notice.

Design (logo/brand)

I use a rapid ‘live’ design process where all of the brand design takes place on a specific date(s), during a set number of hours, usually amounting to half a day. This means that you will be asked to prepare information for me in advance and then, on the contracted date, be fully available to work with me either in person or via an online call (Zoom or Skype) to take part in the live design process.

Based on the inspiration boards and information you submit to me, as part of the homework process, we will together evolve a brand guide which contains but isn’t limited to the following:

A logomark or logotype or both, and any variations required for your business

If appropriate, complementary design elements for web and print

A palette of colors and color references (CMYK, RGB, hex and Pantone, if required)

A suite of fonts for print and web use

Typography & UX guidelines for web and print

Because we will evolved the brand guide during a live design session, you will be able to give and receive immediate feedback and of course request amendments after the process. Sometimes you need to ‘sleep on things’ and I totally understand that. The process will only be considered finished when you are happy.

I’ll share a Dropbox folder or use WeTransfer.com to deliver your logo or brand guide and brand kit with all of the design files produced, including original vector files.

If, at any stage, you change your mind about what you want to be delivered and are not happy with the direction my work is taking you’ll pay me in full for the time I’ve spent working with you until that point and terminate this contract.

Design (web)

As with my branding process, I use a rapid ‘live’ design process to create the overall look and feel of your website, concentrating on the home page. This part of the process will take place at a separately agreed time and usually takes roughly half a day to complete. With the homepage and overall look and feel agreed, and the brand guide in place, I will then continue to build and populate your website, inviting you to check in frequently, approve finished pages and give feedback.

Based on the inspiration boards and information you submit to me, as part of the homework process, we will together evolve a website which includes but isn’t limited to the following:

The number of pages (not exceeding 10) agreed as part of the homework process Your content and images optimized and loaded, unless specifically agreed otherwise Your site moved from my development server to your live hosting environment, with all assets from any previous websites either downloaded or preserved

Additional pages (if required) are charged at £50 per page and additional hours (if required) are charged at £30 per hour.

If you require additional functionality, outside of the scope of the agreed project (which is fine!), then I will put together a specific quote for that functionality.

I will never add additional chargeable hours to your project without discussing all of the options with you. I understand the importance of knowing your costs up front. I try my very best, during initial project discussions, to make sure our quote covers everything you want to achieve and I very rarely need to charge additional hours for a project.

Changes & revisions

I don’t want to limit your ability to change your mind. The price at the beginning of this contract is based on the number of hours that I estimate I’ll need to accomplish everything you’ve told me you want to achieve, but I’m happy to be flexible.

If you want to change your mind or add anything new, that won’t be a problem as I’ll provide a separate estimate for any additional work.

Pre-project preparation & content

My design process works best when I have all of your content (copy and images) in place before I begin and you have completed the pre-project preparation I ask for. The end result is so much better if get to know you beforehand and I’m able to design your brand and website around your content rather than vice versa.

As a result, if I do not receive your images and copy by the time the project begins, I will not be able to move forward with your project and I will need to find a mutually agreeable alternative date for the project. This may result in a wait time of several months.

Text content

You will be responsible for providing all text, though often as part of the branding process, I work with you to craft key brand statements and straplines. I can recommend professional copywriting and editing services, if you feel you need help with that.

Graphics & photographs

You should supply graphic files in an editable, vector digital format, where possible. If you are not able to do this, I may charge you to recreate them in a vector format.

For print design, you should supply photographs in a high resolution digital format. For web design, you should supply photographs at 1920px on the longest edge at 150ppi/dpi.

If you need to buy stock photographs, I can suggest stock libraries and some free alternatives.

Web platform

As part of the discovery process, I will discuss with you, the best website platform for you and your business.

I’m a WordPress specialist, using Divi.

Browser testing

Browser testing no longer means attempting to make a website look the same in browsers of different capabilities or on devices with different size screens. It does mean ensuring that a person’s experience of a design should be appropriate to the capabilities of a browser or device.

I test my work in current versions of major desktop browsers including those made by Apple (Safari), Google (Chrome), Microsoft (Edge), Mozilla Firefox and Opera. I no longer support Microsoft Internet Explorer unless we have agreed this separately.

Mobile browser testing

Testing using popular smaller screen devices is essential in ensuring that a person’s experience of a design is appropriate to the capabilities of the device they’re using.

I test my designs for: iOS / Safari on all devices and Google Chrome Android. I won’t test in specific Android devices, Windows or other mobile browsers unless we have agreed separately.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)

I don’t guarantee improvements to your website’s search engine ranking, but the web pages that I develop are optimized with SEO improvements in mind. Large scale changes to a website may sometimes result in a temporary dip in SEO results, but I will do my best to preserve your current SEO status and I will discuss the likely implications of any changes to copy and / or page urls.

Hosting & technical support

I can offer website hosting and provide on-going support for website hosting, email or other services relating to hosting.

You may already have professional hosting and you might even manage that hosting yourself. If you do, great. Then, the updates to, and management of that server will be up to you.

If you prefer not to manage your own updates and security, I offer a maintenance service which does that.

Handover, Training & Security

At the end of your project, I will schedule a final training call and a ‘Next Steps Pack’, to help you use your brand assets and website fully. I use website platforms and interfaces which are simple to use and I am confident you will be able to edit and maintain your website after our training call. If you would like more extensive training, I am happy to do that but I reserve the right to charge or quote for additional training.

I will also ensure that your website is protected with a security plugin and that you have working backup arrangements in place.

Payment & Refunds

I only accept payments up front, before work begins for each separate service.

All deposits are nonrefundable.

Refunds will not be issued due to a customer’s change of mind prior to or after a product has been delivered.

My Packages

Each website design purchased will include 1 mock up design and 3 revisions. If more than 3 revisions are needed to reach the final design, you may be billed for each additional revision.

Please contact me to find out what my current prices are.

Requests made after the completion of a website are considered to be separate services and will incur a fee.

Third Party

WordPress is considered a third party systems. If your site is developed using WordPress, the latest and most stable available versions of this system will be installed.

As sm web designs is not part of or directly affiliated with WordPress or the developers of these systems, sm web designs is not obliged to fix, modify, add or remove any errors or functions related to third party systems of or on your website at any time. I am not responsible for the functions of any plugins that are installed on your website. Where a plugin is no longer supported, reports an error or causes conflict a suitable replacement will be used where possible.

Hosting & Domains

sm web designs is not responsible for any downtime your site may experience due to server issues. Any issues will be reported by sm web designs to the hosting company to resolve.

You can contact me at hello@sm-webdesigns.co.uk.

REVIEW YOUR WEBSITE WITH THIS CHECKLIST

I have put together a checklist that goes through a review of your website as a whole, technical and legal aspects and page content.